On Our Radar

On Our Radar

Tax Hikes for the Middle Class?

With the exception of a few weeks last December, from day one President Obama has been clear about his revenue goals—tax the rich.

Now while we can stand here and debate till the cows come home what constitutes "rich," the president is steadfast in his thinking. He promises in the next budget discussion to rescind the Bush Tax Cuts for those earning $250,000 or more. Everybody else gets to keep their tax cut.There are many problems with that. For one, it won't be enough to fund this president's out-of-control-sized government. Basically, the wealthy aren't wealthy enough.

Continue Reading Below

If you took all the income of people over $200,000 it would yield about $1.9 trillion, enough revenue to cover the 2012 bill for Medicare, Medicaid and Social Security -- but just barely and certainly not enough to cover these programs as they grow exponentially.

And notice I didn't say a word about Obamacare.

A policy adviser at Economics 21 says in order to pay for everything Obama wants, the tax cut line will have to be much lower at more like $100,000 a year.

The other problem - the rich already pay more than their fair share. The greatest tax burden already falls on those earning the most. According to the Wall Street Journal, the top 1% of taxpayers, those who earn above $380,000 pay 38% of all the taxes. People earning $143,000 or more pay 60% of the taxes collected in this country. And, in many cities and urban areas across this country a $143,000 income wouldn't be considered rich.

It would be considered middle class. Worse, nearly half of Americans pay no income taxes at all despite receiving all the benefits and services of the government.

So as Mr. Obama enters his re-election campaign - the middle class should be on high alert. This president has shown no signs of slowing down his planned expansion of government - and the rich aren't rich enough to pay for it.